China to redouble efforts to expand job offerings, eyeing on emerging industries to create more jobs: experts

China will redouble its efforts to stabilize and expand employment, according to the Government Work Report submitted on Wednesday to the national legislature for deliberation and approval.

Employment is crucial to the people's well-being. Keeping this in mind, China will further refine the employment-first policy and make better use of various types of funds and resources to provide stronger support, the work report said.

China will fully leverage all relevant policies, including unemployment insurance premium refunds, tax and fee cuts, and employment subsidies, to carry out employment support plans targeted at key areas and industries, urban and rural communities, and micro, small, and medium enterprises, the report said.

Job creation has long been a focal point of the on-going two sessions in Beijing, the annual meetings of China's national legislature and top political advisory body. This year is no exception. During the sessions, deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) from across the country actively discussed employment issues, putting forward proposals to boost employment and maintain a healthy labor market.

Strengthening policy support

To address challenges faced by flexible workers in enrolling in social security and meet the heavy financial burden of contributions, Li Dongsheng, an NPC deputy and founder of China's leading home appliance manufacturer TCL, suggested lowering the contribution rate to the social security pooling fund for those flexible jobs, establish a dynamic adjustment mechanisms for social security payments for this group, completely removing restrictions on enrollment in certain insurance programs, such as work-related injury and unemployment insurance, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Hu Chengzhong, chairman of the board of electrical products manufacturer Delixi Electric Co, suggested corresponding tax and fee reductions for companies based on the number of new graduates a company hires, according to the Securities Times.

The labor market has faced significant pressure in recent years, caused by both a record number of college graduates entering the workforce every year, and shifts in labor demand due to industrial upgrading, Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Governments at all levels have introduced policies to promote employment, and it is believed that, this year, with the implementation of a nationwide employment-first strategy, these efforts will continue to intensify, Li said.

Currently, the annual "Golden March and Silver April" spring recruitment season is in full swing. Recruitment events have been held across provinces including Northeast China's Liaoning, East China's Jiangxi and Shandong, and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, attracting large crowds at offline job fairs combined with frequent online live-streamed recruitment events.

Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, has launched a "Million Talents Gathering in South Guangdong" initiative, aiming to create over 100,000 new jobs. Leading companies in the city are offering positions with annual salaries reaching up to 1 million yuan ($137,820).

Relevant departments in Shenzhen have also teamed up with businesses, universities, and other organizations to make available an initial 130,000 high-quality positions, including thousands of high-paying positions with annual salaries exceeding 500,000 yuan, with some even reaching over 1 million yuan.

Following a noteworthy 12.56 million jobs being added in 2024, China is aiming to create over 12 million new urban jobs in 2025, according to the Government Work Report.

Despite various challenges, China's labor market has remained stable, making incremental improvement, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Emerging opportunities

Since the start of the year, Chinese technology startups including AI platform DeepSeek have made waves worldwide. While the public has been in awe of the advancements the latest tech innovations bring, their rise has also made talent in related fields in high demand during the spring hiring season.

Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, the home of both DeepSeek and Alibaba, kicked off its largest offline job fair of the season on Saturday.

A wide array of companies and research institutes gathered, with 830 participating organizations offering 21,000 job openings. Of these positions, 80 percent are focused on software and hardware development, product design, as well as various research and development roles, and equipment engineering positions, according to media reports.

Alibaba recently launched its intern recruitment stream for 2026 graduates, offering more than 3,000 positions, with nearly 50 percent of these roles centered on AI-related fields.

The rapid rise of new industries and new business models has created a surge in employment opportunities. More importantly, this will provide a long-term boost to employment, as the contribution of scientific and technological advancements to China's economic growth is steadily increasing, and the resulting demand for new jobs is increasing, Li noted.

After reviewing the recruitment and job-seeking data for the latest month following the Spring Festival, online recruitment platform zhaopin.com reported that AI development is driving the growth for new roles.

The job positions for AI instructors surged by 112.4 percent year-on-year. Recruitment for robot algorithm engineers and debugging engineers also witnessed a 30-percent increase, while the demand for drone assembly and testing personnel grew by 82.7 percent, according to a report the platform sent to the Global Times.

As emerging technologies continue to evolve and innovate, the demand for talent in those new fields will continue to rise, Wang said.

In recent years, provinces and cities have made positive strides toward attracting and developing high-end talent. The concentration of such talent provides strong support for industries, while their influx is set to empower local economies, bringing new vitality and fostering greater prosperity, Wang noted.